Words matter. These are the best Nadine Labaki Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
I don’t think I make ‘Chick Flicks.’
I like to have the impression that whatever is happening is true.
When you show people on the big screen that could be our next-door neighbour or our cousin, it does have an impact on our lives.
I am a woman. I definitely have a woman’s perspective. I’m also a mother, and I think, because of that, I feel responsible to try and make a difference.
I was lucky because I used to live right next to a video-rental store. I used to spend so much time watching films. So I’ve seen a lot. I used to watch ‘Dynasty’ and ‘Dallas’ and have seen every kind of film. I’ve been influenced by everything I’ve seen.
I always felt that anything is possible.
I’ve never felt that my job was difficult because I’m a woman. It’s a difficult job regardless, and it’s even more difficult in Lebanon because there’s no film industry. There’s no structure, funding, or institutions for filmmakers.
I like to believe that my actors are not acting. That whatever they are doing, or whatever has been said, would happen in real life.
I believe everybody can make a change in the world.
Lebanon is not only burning buildings and people crying in the street. When you say ‘Lebanon,’ especially to foreigners, that’s the first thing they think of.
It’s only normal for me to work with my family because I think they are talented and because there’s a warmth when I’m working. As a filmmaker, sometimes you are very fragile. You are in a very fragile situation most of the time. I think it’s important to be surrounded by people you just get along with.
When people say to me, ‘You make us proud,’ it’s heartwarming to hear that.
I have learned to do what I want without hurting anyone. I’ve learned how to get away with it, with everything. I’m getting away with what I’m trying to do on film but also in my own way.
I don’t like to be feared, and I can’t work in conflict, I’m very bad with conflict. I try to avoid it, it paralyzes me.
Self-censorship has become a part of me. I think because we live in a place where community is very important, family is very important, you feel the weight of how people look at you. Even though I might seem very modern and very liberated, I still have a lot of issues to deal with. I’m scared of how people look at me.
I think of myself more as a director than as an actress. But I do like to perform and express myself in different ways, and I’ll keep on doing so, provided I can find interesting roles.
Movements like Time’s Up and #MeToo are putting the problems out there and creating conversations about the issues, and that’s really how the healing process starts.
I don’t like to work with people I don’t have any connection with.
I’ve seen so many women in my family, so many mothers, that have lost children in the war in such absurd ways. I wonder how they do it. How do they keep living? How do they keep smiling?
